A mob is not simply a large gathering of people. It is a state of mind, a collective spirit that abandons reason and replaces it with rage. A mob is born when individuals lose their individuality, when disagreement is crushed instead of debated, and when passion mutates into aggression. Movements build, mobs destroy. The difference lies not in the cause but in the conduct.
In Nigeria’s digital era, mobs no longer gather only in the streets. They gather online in hashtags, comment threads, and viral pile-ons. Social media, with its anonymity and its reward system for outrage, has become the new public square where mob psychology thrives. And this is where the Obidient Movement, Peter Obi’s passionate political base, finds itself under scrutiny.
No one can deny the impact of the Obidient surge. They disrupted the old political order, gave young Nigerians a sense of power, and re-energized democracy. Their rise was not just about a candidate, it was about hope. For many Nigerians disillusioned with PDP and APC, the Obidients represented a chance to reset the system. That is an achievement worthy of recognition.
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Yet movements are judged not only by their ideals but by their methods. Increasingly, critics, journalists, and even ordinary citizens complain that Obidient loyalists often respond to dissent with insults, cyberbullying, and coordinated online harassment. Instead of engaging critics with reasoned arguments, some Obidients drown them in hostility. That behavior, however well-intentioned the cause, mirrors the very mob tendencies they claim to oppose.
The irony is glaring. The same Obidients who condemn political thuggery on the streets sometimes practice digital thuggery online. They decry intolerance in government, yet display intolerance toward fellow citizens who disagree. They claim to be a new political order, yet their excesses resemble the old. This contradiction weakens rather than strengthens their credibility.
To be fair, Obidients are not the only guilty camp. APC loyalists and PDP supporters are also notorious for online hooliganism. But Obidients stand out because they have consistently claimed moral high ground. And when you declare yourself the better alternative, you must live up to a higher standard. Failing to do so risks reducing a movement of hope into just another noisy mob.
The danger here is long-term. If Obidients allow mob tactics to define them, they will alienate the undecided Nigerians they desperately need. Passion without discipline has never built a nation, it has only bred chaos. Nigeria does not need another mob. It needs citizens who can argue without insulting, disagree without destroying, and fight for change without becoming the very problem they set out to fix.
The Obidient Movement still has a choice. It can double down on mob-like hostility and fade into irrelevance, or it can mature into a disciplined force for reform. The line between movement and mob is thin, but the consequences are wide. One inspires hope, the other breeds fear. Nigeria needs the former. Whether the Obidients rise to the challenge is a test of character they cannot afford to fail.
